PSE’s Christopher Perkins – Bowhunter Who Became a World Class Target Archer

Christopher Perkins – Bowhunter

Editor’s Note:Christopher Perkins from Athens, Ontario, Canada, has been shooting for PSE for the last 2 years. In 4 weeks of 2012, this 20 year old earned $18,000 in two professional archery tournaments – not bad for a summer job. But, Perkins never really set out to be a tournament archer winning championships and money and gaining sponsors. Like many tournament pros, Perkins just wanted to shoot better, so he could become a more proficient bowhunter. However, Perkin’s love of bowhunting and the desire to become a better bowhunter lead him to participate in archery competitions and world championships. He discovered like many of us have that the marriage between target archery and bowhunting produces a much better target archer and bowhunter than just choosing one of these two archery sports.

I went on my first deer hunt when I was 12 years old. I had to be 12 to get a license, and in Canada, you had to take a test before the government would issue you your license. I’d been shooting the bow for a year before hunting season began. I started bowhunting with my dad as soon as I got a license. That first year, I took my first deer, and it was a doe. I shot her at 4 yards. She came across the field and walked right past me. I drew my bow and took the shot. After she took the arrow, she ran about 50 yards and piled up.

Question: What did you feel like when you took your first deer with your bow?

I had a huge adrenaline rush. It’s a feeling that’s hard to describe. I thought I could take a deer out to 20 or 30 yards, but I’d only been shooting for a year. I couldn’t believe that I’d gotten within 4 yards of that deer before turning my arrow loose. I guess that first deer is what really fueled the fires of my archery career. I knew that target archery, at least for me, was a necessity to be a good bowhunter. Since I’ve had my PSEVendetta, I’ve taken three other bucks with it. The first buck I took with a PSEbow on October 4, 2010, was an 8 point and I took him with my PSEOmen. The buck was 16 or 17 yards away, when I released my arrow. He only went 10 yards before he tipped over. I shoot a Rage Two Blade Broadhead, a mechanical broadhead that makes a big entry hole and a big exit hole. When you hit a deer with this broadhead, you don’t have to do much tracking. I was hunting on the edge of a food plot at a pinch point, where the deer funneled into the food plot. This buck was the only deer I saw that day. If you’ll aim behind the deer’s shoulder at mid body, you’ll have a pretty good hit. But, I try and aim at the center of what I consider a 2 inch target on each deer. Target archery has taught me to not look at the entire target, even though it may be 2 inches in diameter. So, when I’m at full draw on a buck and have picked out the spot I want the arrow to hit, I try and aim in the center of that spot. I concentrate on exactly where I want the arrow to go and forget about the deer, and keep my total focus on the spot I want to hit. Whether I’m shooting target archery or bowhunting, I want to make the spot I’m aiming at as small as possible. Every time I put my pin on a specific spot, I want to make a shot of a lifetime. I want to shoot the best arrow I’ve ever shot. Again, this philosophy comes from target archery.

Question: What type of sight are you using?

I use a multi pin sight for bowhunting called the Axcel Armortech Pro. My pins are set from 20 to 60 yards. So, when this buck came in, I put my 20 yard pin just a little bit low on the spot I wanted to hit, and the arrow went right into the buck’s heart.